Yes this was a huge shock to me. There’s more info on the Facebook page and also on Rodents With Attitude where there’s the announcement then later on his obituary. I’ll do Fred – a Life in due course for the pages here (Tales from the Hutch).

I took him for the vets because he seemed to have teeth/mouth problems and I had felt I’d taken George too late with his. I’ve always tried to do teeth the CCT way because of the risk to GPs from anaesthetic, but on the other hand an xray of his teeth while he was there might give us a good understanding of any future problems, so I thought, as being four and a half, I didnt want him to need it as he got older… He came round ok, and was pottering about happily, and I had a message to come and get him in a little while. So I phoned to check, and there was a huge pause as the vet came up and said she’d just checked him again and he’d gone to sleep. And left us.

Apart from his mouth he’d seemed really well, keen to greet the vet in the morning, happy and chatting during our cuddle. Just a sore mouth with splayed lower incisors, and a 10% loss of weight since Sunday. The vet thought he must have bumped his teeth, but as to why he went to sleep… it’s just one of those things.

Maybe he was missing George and decided six months was enough. I don’t know how I’ll cope without him. But at least I have their stories and blogs as well as the memories and photographs.